There is a chance that Trump was so broke that he desperately tried to get chummy with Putin and his oligarchs to bail him out. After receiving the cold shoulder, he tried to get Vlad's attention by running for president and accidentally succeeded. This would also explain why Melania has not left him.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/disclosure-form-details-donald-trumps-income-sources-1463614927
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It is difficult to believe that a guy with "3-4 billion" would need months to pay back a 130K loan.
The reason he is refusing to release his tax returns seems to be that he is either trying to hide shady business dealings or the fact that he is worth way less than he claims.
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What makes you think that a guy who lies about everything would shy away from lying on a financial disclosure form.
There is a reason he refuses to show us his tax returns and stated that Robert Mueller looking into his business dealings is a red line for him.
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The only reason Mueller would want to see Trump's business records is because he found no evidence whatsoever of collusion with Russia (at least not Trump collusion with Russia, Mueller is steadfastly refusing to follow up on Hillary's collusion with Russia). Mueller's sole purpose is to report dirt on Trump, whether he has to make it up of not.
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But that is besides the point since he is lying on a daily basis and only a rabid fan would deny this fact.
My point is, I don't believe that there was an intentional collusion with Russia, but for his sycophantic urge to get on Vlad's good side to have a new mark for a long con.
Accidentally winning the presidency just proves the gullibility of 60 something million Americans.
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Only someone suffering from a terminal case of TDS would say Trump is lying on a daily basis, especially considering the administration that just left.
"Sycophantic urge to get on Vlad's good side "? You mean like just after he was elected when he said "I’m aware of not only the extraordinary work that you’ve done on behalf of the Russian people ... as president, but in your current role as prime minister, we think there’s an excellent opportunity to put U.S.-Russian relations on a much stronger footing.” Oh, wait, that was Obama, nevermind.
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What happened to “Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.” Is the system fixed yet? Is America great again yet?
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- Walt Disney
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Highest GDP ever (real and nominal), lowest unemployment since 1973, lowest minority unemployment ever, the return of manufacturing, etc., etc., the US is on its way to being great again.
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If you own a $2M mansion, but you have a $2.5M mortgage, you appear wealthy, but are actually way more broke than I am.
Since President Ponzi refuses to release his tax returns, I will continue to believe he is broke.
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All of Trump's assets (except for maybe some of his offshore assets, which he will want to hide for obvious reasons) are public. A lot of independent companies regularly calculate his net wealth balance, and the negative balance so far has not been suggested by any such company.
You are correct that Madoff was not considered broke, while he was, and it is possible that Trump is in a similar situation. However, it is very doubtful, due to the nature of his business: Trump does not deal in pyramid schemes, he deals mostly with real estate and employment. It is very hard to build a Ponzi-like scheme out of these assets, as all the assets have to be properly declared, and any farce will become immediately obvious. It is the dealings taking place outside the "white" market that cannot be accurately estimated. Maybe Trump is involved in them, maybe not. But our legal system is based around the principle of presumption of innocence. Considering Trump guilty of a financial scam without a solid evidence ("does not want to release his tax returns" is not such evidence) is unreasonable.
There are many reasons to criticize Trump; far too many even. But this is not one of them.
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